Jewelry Brand AUrate Just Debuted a Blog

Should you be blogging too?

AUrate, the buzz-y New York City–based fine jewelry brand and retailer, debuted a blog last week that company founders say they hope will help boost’s the brand’s storytelling capabilities.

“AUrate is much more than just a one-dimensional jewelry brand,” says Bouchra Ezzahraoui, who co-owns AUrate with fellow Princeton grad Sophie Kahn (pictured). “It’s representative of a lifestyle and a new way of thinking. In other words, we really have a story to tell, and we thought, what better way to do this than with a blog?”

The blog’s first entry was a warm salutation: “So, we finally started a blog!… As best friends and business partners, we feel extraordinarily fortunate that, every day, we get to do the work we were meant to do and give back in a real way. This company is truly a labor of love. And this blog is our invitation to you. Come behind the scenes and get to know the people, the stories, and the mission behind our brand.”

Kahn says the blog “is literally derived from our name” and that it will “cover four sections that make up our story and represent what we care about.”

A title image for an AUrate blog post

Posts titled “AU” (the chemical element of atomic number 79, symbolizing gold) will cover “everything about our collection—introducing new designs and inspiration,” says Ezzahraoui, “but will also delve deeper into how our items are produced, showing how everything is made in New York City and explaining why we care so much about adhering to the highest ethical guidelines.”

Blogs under the “Rate” heading (“derived from a rate of return on your purchase,” Ezzahraoui notes) reflect AUrate’s philanthropic arm; the brand gives a book to a child in need for every piece of jewelry sold. “This category shares the details about how we give back and discusses the broader mind-set of corporate social responsibility, where we, for instance, highlight other brands we admire or schools of thought that are illuminating in this area,” says Kahn.

The “New York” section is a nod to AUrate’s made-in-New-York manufacturing. Kahn says the posts will “cover everything that inspires us about this incredible city,” and will also “share our favorite places, ranging from restaurants to stores to museums to exhibitions.”

The fourth blog section, “The Orators” stems from the the verb “to story-tell,” says Ezzahraoui. In the posts here, the co-owners will introduce AUrate team members—a story on Kahn is already live—and craftspeople such as stone setters. “We’ll also highlight other individuals we admire, from across the globe, and interview them so that they can share their story,” says Kahn.

The value of a website-based blog for brands has been debated hotly by brand strategists in recent years. Some say it’s a great way to connect with consumers, while others feel it’s not worth the work required to put into it, because a blog doesn’t directly convert to the same degree as, say, Facebook ads.

But numbers—particularly web analytics—don’t ever tell the whole story of how a brand’s equity is and could be built and how that reputation could feed healthy conversion rates. A blog stands alone as a content tool because until it’s shared on social media, it’s isolated from the social media fray, and therefore brings with it a pristineness that, Snapchat posts, for example, will never have.

But blogging is work and takes time. And the decision to cultivate and maintain a blog should be entirely based on your brand’s goals. If you’re a two-person operation, blogging might not make sense. But if your target is millennials and you’re looking to become a lifestyle brand like Goop (or at least get into the same ballpark), well-written, relevant content—covering a wide range of topics that are of interest to your demographics—is a must.

And remember: Every piece of content you create can and should be posted to your social media channels, alleviating the pressure, at least in part, to generate content there.